“Sustainability is not just a goal for Bosch but is part of the group’s culture. Sustainability has an essential role in the basic activities, but at the same time it ensures a balance between the economic aspect, the environmental aspect, the social aspect.

We have many initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and combating climate change. Bosch is the first global industrial company that managed to achieve carbon footprint neutrality in 400 locations. This result was not only achieved through strategy, but also through implementation and securing the necessary funds.

At global level, Bosch offers 50 million euros annually for energy efficiency and renewable energy activities produced in its own facilities around the world. We are talking about one billion euros until 2030 for investments in such activities.

By 2030, we want to reduce the carbon footprint by 30 percent compared to 2018 on the entire chain, from the use of products, the supply chain, to the indirect goods and services we use,” Monica Constantinescu, Senior Vice-President, Plant Commercial Director Bosch Cluj Plant, Mobility Electronics Division said during Sustainability in Business Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest and Sustainability Today.

“Another strategic direction is the mission to create technology for life. We want to create products, high-class technology that ensures a comfort of everyday life that helps us as individuals to have a positive impact on the environment.

We strongly promote diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion. These social components also come to ensure sustainability.

60 percent of the Bosch group’s turnover is represented by the automotive sector, and the products that make a positive contribution to the carbon footprint are made following innovative projects. We already have a debut in terms of electromobility. At the Bosch factory in Cluj, we produce electronic components for electric and hybrid vehicles. In addition, we are also looking at an alternative mobility brought by hydrogen technology.

We believe that hydrogen mobility will not replace electromobility, but it will help us reach the targets of reducing carbon emissions until 2035. Hydrogen has a significant potential that can compensate for the lack of other sources of renewable energy. Hydrogen engines will represent a viable alternative for heavy vehicles traveling long distances.

We invested 5 million euros in the installation of photovoltaic panels for the factory in Cluj in 2021. Somewhere around 15 percent of the energy consumption is covered by these own solar panels, i.e. the annual energy consumption for 3,000-4,000 households.”